


Summer Brain

by greekowl87



Series: Tumblr Prompts [26]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, MSR, Some angst, post ep, prompt, season 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 04:15:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15833565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greekowl87/pseuds/greekowl87
Summary: Mulder and Scully go to the beach after the events of The Sixth Extinction: Amor Fati.





	Summer Brain

**Author's Note:**

> I got a prompt on Tumblr for "Summer brain Mulder and Scully." I had a hard time trying to write something for this but this is what resulted. And the title came from the prompt because I like it

During Mulder’s brief spell of telepathy and the brain surgery that resulted, he dreamed a lot of things. What else was there to do when you were comatose? He dreamed of colonization and the end of the world, dead relatives that should have remained dead, Diana (why oh why?), and most importantly, a little boy, a beach, and UFO. But very little of Scully.

Why was that?

As he recovered restlessly in his apartment, he had to time to think and he constantly asked why did he not dream of Scully more? Secretly, he had a wild theory. He still believed he was still connected to Scully on some physic level. The scientists that examined them after the North Carolina mushroom incident could not come up with any long-term effects of exposure to the mushrooms hallucinogenic properties. There had been moments, like intuition where both would finish each other sentences, sense each other emotions, or even thoughts. Oh, how he yeared for Scully to hear him when he was telepathic. But those small things were easily dismissed.

Scully came over almost every day during his recovery. She told him she was just checking his health but he knew there was more to it. One afternoon, they begin to talk about what she had seen while in Africa as she confessed it to him like she did confession with her priest. She had found a ship written in God’s language with human genetics written on it. While her descriptions matched the ship from his dreams, it did not account for the little boy he saw. After hearing about her experiences more, he slowly convinced himself that his dreams had been her dreams and that they were still connected somehow on a subconscious level. Just thinking about it made his head hurt.

He scratched his forehead, feeling the fresh scar beneath the hairline. Ever since the surgery and whatever that smoking bastard did to him, things had been blissfully silent but he still had the dreams of the little boy and the UFO. He was startled from his thoughts as his phone started to ring.

“Mulder,” he greeted.

“Mulder, it’s me.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Scully?”

“I know you were awake and I couldn’t sleep either.”

“How did you know I was awake?”

“Call it a feeling and I know your sleep habits after six years. So, what are you up to?”

He pursed his lips to form a response before he decided to ask, “You want to celebrate one weekend of freedom with me?”

“Doing what?”

“I dunno,” he feigned. “Let’s go out to Ocean City for a day.”

“What’s caused that thought? Besides, I think I’ve had enough of the beaches for a while.”

He remembered the beach from his dreams. “Come on,” he encouraged.

“Mulder.”

“Or we could go to Virginia Beach if you want.”

“Mulder.”

“What about Harper’s Ferry instead. I hear they do tubing up there.”

“Mulder.”

He was starting to hear the exasperation in his voice. “Great. I’ll pick you up in a couple of hours.”

“Mulder, it’s four a.m.”

“Make sure you pack your bathing suit.”

“Mulder!”

“Six a.m, Scully.”

He hung up without another word. He knew Scully was annoyed but she would go along with it. Mulder smiled to himself as a plan began to form.

… .

Sandy Point State Park, Maryland. A quaint little park with a small sandy beach along the Chesapeake Bay.

Scully could not remember the last time she had been here. A part of her thought it was at her father’s funeral right at the beginning of her work on the x-files before she had jetted off to North Carolina to deal with Boggs and have her faith in her natural and scientific world shattered. She felt her faith had been challenged then and found anchorage with Mulder’s beliefs of something more. Now she felt her faith had been ripped and broken right in front of her. Scully remembered going to Mulder’s apartment door that early morning and telling him of Fowley’s death and he gathered her shattered world and glued her back together by telling her she was his touchstone and his one and five billion. He once again gave her something to hold onto while she was adrift at sea.

“It’s a gorgeous day, isn’t it, Scully?”

“Did you say something, Mulder?”

“You okay?”

As if you can’t sense my uneasiness, she thought.

Mulder’s body language shifted toward interest. He faced her completely and looked down at her and then upwards as if taking stock at her at the same time as she thought whatever she thought. She shivered unconsciously. “Fine, Mulder.” Silence ensued between them as she sensed he had something more to say. “What, Mulder? I can hear you thinking.”

His eyebrows arched in genuine surprise. “Really, Scully?”

“No! What are you still reading my mind right now?”

She was teasing but for a brief moment, he almost considered taking her seriously before his grin sent shivers down her back and gave up his bluff. “I thought you didn’t believe in that, Scully.” He immediately bit his tongue and remembered how what happened to him and her discoveries in Africa shook her world. “Sorry.”

“Why?”

“I know how much everything affected you. What it was that made you doubt? I probably didn’t do any good by bringing us here.”

“Why do you say that, Mulder?”

“This place reminds of me of where you were on the Ivory Coast. All that’s missing is the little boy.”

Shit, Mulder thought.

“You dreamed of a little boy?”

“I dreamed of a lot of things during that time, Scully. But you…you were rarely in it except when they tried the brain surgery.” He took a deep breath. “But I dreamed of myself, a little boy, the UFO, and the beach.”

Scully was quiet and tried to recall her experiences over that. She had barely slept during those five weeks but when she did, there was a little boy, the UFO, Mulder while she stood powerless as if watching the entire scene unfold without her. “I did too,” she admitted after a long, tense moment. “Except I was a part of it. I felt trapped like a prisoner knowing you had gone on without me.”

“You’re afraid I will leave you,” he answered abruptly.

“No. I’m not.”

“I heard your thoughts, Scully. I heard a lot.”

Her face flushed red with embarrassment. “You couldn’t read minds, Mulder.”

“We shared dreams, Scully. We had…have…or maybe a partial a psychic connection. At least at one time.”

“I admitted we shared a hallucination. Nothing more, Mulder,” she dismissed. “And it dissipated.”

“Why did you dream of the beach?” He continued to talk oblivious to her protests. “Why do you dismiss I could read minds?” She buried her face into both of her hands, clearly wishing she could disappear from the world. He licked his lips and watched the waves from the Chesapeake Bay beat against the sandy shore. It reminded him so much of the beach from his dreams. “For what is worth, I meant every word I said. You are my touchstone. My one in five billion. I love you, Scully. So much it hurts.”

She winced at his words. Those moments flashed through her mind. Her thoughts were momentary like an atom splitting when man discovered the atomic bomb. “You don’t know that.”

“I do,” he pressed. Mulder took her hand and threaded their fingers together. Scully did not pull away from him. “And not because of the telepathy. I believe you know how much I do as well. Do you want to hear my theory?”

“Mulder, nothing happened between us,” she whispered. Her voice could barely be heard over the shallow lapping of the bay and noises from the park. “You were sick and you probably don’t mean it.”

“Will you shut up and just listen to me for a second?” Mulder pleaded. Her silence indicated her consent. “I know what I dreamed. I know what I experienced. I knew they were yours and we shared dreams again. I just know.”

“So are we psychically linked now?” Her sarcasm was biting. “I thought you were healed.”

“I was. I am. But for us…” He waved his free hand uselessly in the air and noted that their other hands still remained together. “How do you want me to describe it? We aren’t connected like that. The phenomenon of sharing dreams is not that uncommon in history. I just know. I don’t know how to describe to you, Scully. During all that, while you were halfway around the world, I just knew you were there with me. Maybe here.” He tapped his chest where his heart was. “Or here.” He tapped his temple. “I just knew you were there with me. I never felt alone even when I was comatose.”

She shifted next to him. “I remember the dream,” she whispered,“and I saw you and the little boy and I felt left behind. I’ve always felt left behind, Mulder.” He knew but wisely kept quiet. “Like you don’t need me. When all this happened, I felt lost. I couldn’t do what you do. I still don’t know what to believe.”

“Well,” he began, lingering as he gathered his thoughts. “I believe in you.”

“That’s not saying a lot.”

Her bitterness made him frown. “I believe we’re still somehow connected and always have been. Not psychically but I just knew during your abduction that you were still alive. I was the only one who would not give up on you. The mushroom just amplified it and now it lingers at a subconscious level. What happened to me was a blip but we were able to share a dream again. We’ve always had a metaphysical connection.”

“Like soul mates?”

“Something like that.”

“I thought it was just because you played so well with others.”

“Only with this one person they sent to spy on me.”

She chuckled softly and squeezed his hand. “I think the reason why it is so strong and has lingered over the past few months is that something changed between us. Awhile ago.” He took a deep breath and prepared to speak. “I love you, Scully and that is how I know, have faith, and believe in you.”

“Because of a shared dream.”

“I just know. It’s faith in that and us that I rely on.”

Scully was quiet and felt a warmth creeping through her. It felt familiar and comforting. “I always liked the beach,” she started. She pulled on his arm to get him to sit closer. “Another dream I had was just us walking on the beach and watching the surf. I knew you were far away but you felt so close. Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me something. I don’t know but I knew.” She laughed bitterly. “Maybe I should tell you I love you as well but maybe you already knew.”

“I like hearing you say it more,” he whispered reverently. The dream she described fluttered into his memory. “And I remember.”

Scully took a deep breath. Being on this small sandy beach by the Chesapeake Bay made her feel grounded with Mulder beside her, holding her hand, and knowing somehow he meant every word. “Being here reminds me of that dream except for your right here and I know I’m not crazy. Or alone.”

“Never alone, Scully.”

She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. “This is the same beach where they released my father’s ashes and then I went to North Carolina with you. Did you know that? I remember my world feeling shaken then and while our roles were reversed, you grounded me then too.” He kissed the top of her red head and stayed silent. “Just like now. If we go to this next step, Mulder, we do so together.”

“As if there was a choice.” She smiled and turned her head upwards. A soft kiss reaffirmed their bond and Mulder murmured. “I can’t wait for the next step after this.”

Scully chuckled and murmured. “We can try later tonight. Right now, I just want to enjoy the beach with you.”

“I can do that.”


End file.
